Red Sea Prism Skimmer question

[reefscape15]

I have a Red Sea Prism Deluxe HOB skimmer and wanted to feed the air with an air pump instead of relying only on venturi. Has anyone done this before? What do you think?

[dragon76mom]

hi reefscape15

i have the same skimmer hows it working out for you. just kinda curious how yours is dialed in. im not getting to much skim i would like to get. at this point i have the water intake open half way and the air inlet is almost closed if i open it more i don't really get any skim and if i close to much air goes in to tank . ive missed with it a lot i also have the cover for the cup on order since mine is busted could that be the problem right now i get a light green skim. i do have the cover on just bandaged up lol.

ok thanks

[reefscape15]

I tried this mainly to reduce noise, but pumping air made it very loud! I am thinking of adding a Limewood Air block to it and closing off the venturi. I will have to route the airline through the outlet and try to get it as close to the pump as possible, but i don't know how well this will work. When i was pumping the air in, it did seem to make a thicker foam, which i'm sure would be more efficient, but the tank is in our bedroom, and my wife HATES the noise of the skimmer!

[taylor t]

I've had this skimmer on a 29 for atleast 4 years now. I mesh modded mine. I took the air knob totally off, and have an aqua dose drip my top off into it, to try to keep the salt build-up to a minimum. It skims very well, but, I have to take the intake off about every other month and unclog the air hole at the bottom (by the impeller). I use a drill bit to drill it out, because it's hard calcium build-up. Once that is cleared, it's quiet again. I have my air open all the way. I've tried the air pump idea. Didn't work for me. Maybe you'll have better luck. I found most of the noise is from a clogged air intake by the impeller, which means, to unclog it, you have to take it apart. Overall, I'd never recommend this skimmer to anyone, even though it works very well for me, once it was mesh modded, and if I keep up with the required maintenance. My euroreef & asm are a "set and forget", but require a sump.

[reefscape15]

What's a mesh mod? I take mine apart every once in a while and just wash it out and scrub what i can with a flex brush, but i might have to check the air intake. I've been thinking about a bigger skimmer, but i don't have room for a sump, and need a hang on. Are there any hang-ons that you feel work as well as the Prism? 54gal tank, but i'd want the skimmer WAY oversized.

[jdiddy8384]

IMO i wouldnt even try to mod this skimmer unless it was your last resort. The one i tried to use was worse than a seaclown. Octo, deltec, and bermuda have very good HOT skimmers. I had a bermuda rogue w/mag5 and loved it.

[taylor t]

I mesh modded mine with some plastic type scrubby "shtuff", it's called inkamat, or, something that sounds like that. I can't quite remember what it's called, it's been a few years since I got it. I zip tied it with a tiny zip tie to the top of the impeller. I've cut off the impeller tines completely and tried just plastic mesh, but, didn't work as well as just adding a small amount to what's already there. I just zip tied it to an impeller without modifying the impeller, and, for me it works very well, tons of micro bubbles.
Everyone's right in the fact that it's a garbage skimmer, unless you are up for constant monitor. I've gone 2 weeks without cleaning or adjusting it before, with 4 fish, 3 anemones, and corals in a 29 (WAY overstocked) and the skimate it produces was like thick sludge. If it's running properly, it works well. Getting it to work properly, another story. I'm too lazy to set up a sump and change skimmers, and I'm on the brink of tearing it down (for the last few years), so I keep nursing it along. It really would be best to get a different skimmer.

As for tearing it down, last week my 150 watt rena cal heater stuck "on" and cooked my tank up to 98 degrees. It killed everything exept for 3 fish, so, NOW, it's coming down. My days of red sea prism pro are over. My days with rena cal heaters are also over. My skimmer had nothing to do with cooking my tank though. Having a 55 gallon tank worth of stock, melt in a 29 gallon turned it so cloudy, I couldn't see a thing in it. Boy, did that stink, literally.

The skimmer has a v notch in the collection cup, on the right front side of it. I twist it clockwise, so, the v notch is over the return flow back to the tank. When my tank melted, the skimmer went nuts, overflowed, right back into the tank. Just another little "trick" you can do with that skimmer to prevent skimate all over your floor. It didnt' save anything in my tank, but, it kept all the "death" confined to inside the tank, not on my floor.

Bottom line, you can make it work very well. But, if you have the money, there's got to be a better one out there, but, I've never tried another HOB besides both red sea's.

reefscape15 YGPM